


Meet James Barnes (Yes, James "Bucky" Buchanan Barnes born 1917)

by Mysana



Series: The Extraordinary Life of Darcy Lewis (Much to her Fathers' Worry) [13]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes doesn't care for your gender norms, Bucky Barnes is a flirt, Darcy Lewis has PTSD, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 22:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8596207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysana/pseuds/Mysana
Summary: Big reveals and James Barnes' feels





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Archetype_ElectraHeart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archetype_ElectraHeart/gifts).



> This is unbeta'd.
> 
> This story has been retro-actively dedicated to Archetype_ElectraHeart because I just realised that they have written... like at least 5 of my favourite fan fictions. I super duper recommend them and their Darcy awesome-ness.

Darcy and Sam don't spend a ton of time together, but yeah, Darcy would say they’re friends.They spend Friday nights playing two person card games. They see each other early on Thursday mornings when Sam is leaving for his run and Darcy is getting everything together. Darcy tells Sam about her flashbacks on 4 am Saturday morning as they back lay on the sofa and talk. Sam talks, briefly, about Riley. (Darcy can't really understand how much trust he's showing.) Neither of them cry, but it’s close.

 

They don't talk about some things. Sam doesn't really talk about Captain America or Bucky, not because he's hiding anything, but he spends time with Darcy when he need time away from the ancient Soldiers. Sometimes adorable inability to use modern technology can get really annoying, and when the two of them argue there is so much sexual tension Sam just can’t deal. 

 

 Darcy doesn't talk about Dad or Papa. Mostly because she's not sure how much of her background info is in her file and she'd like to avoid adding to it if at all possible. She will mention Thor or Jane in passing but she’s dealing with the way her life basically revolves around them. 

 

Neither would say they were close with each other. But they were well on their way. Far closer than they thought, for sure. 

 

Perhaps, a month, into their friendship, Sam brings up 'Steve' and 'Bucky' and learns (vaguely) of Darcy's opinions on them. They agree that, for the sake of their friendship, they'll avoid that topic in the future. It's all very emotionally exhausting and Darcy nearly screams when she smell the mild soap the Winter Soldier uses by her room. He had tried to use her _laptop_. (She can’t tell if he succeeded/

 

JARVIS continues to be surprised when she mentions the he's been there. Darcy wonders what exactly that means, but she doesn't have enough data so she lets it go. (For now.)

 

A few weeks later, Darcy goes to find Sam for the first time. She had _finally_ gotten her hands on the original Star Wars trilogy. Before the remastering. (She had to find someone who had reconstructed it from laser disc, converted it to VHS then convert it to DVD. Like _damn_ George Lucas.) JARVIS had reluctantly informed her that Sam resided on the 87th floor but was currently in the stairwell on his way there. 

 

So Darcy goes to meet him. 

 

Unfortunately, he’s not alone. With him is a strange ghost of a man. He's wearing a well fitting black shirt and has his finger nails on his right had painted. That's the first thing Darcy notices. Then she sees the way his hair is braided down both sides, almost to his shoulder. She sees the deep lines under his eyes and the way his back is rigidly straight. It screams _exhausted_ and _militar_ y. Funnily enough, it takes her ages to notice the metal arm. After that identification takes just a split second.

 

But words racing their way to her mouth are beaten by the Winter Soldier. 

 

"Darcy! It's nice to see you!" Sam says, full of relaxing fake cheer. (Darcy has yet to figure out how he does that.) "James, this is my friend  Darcy."  

 

The other man (the Winter Soldier? Barnes?) looks like he's... confused? In pain? It's only there for a millisecond. Then he's all charm as he reaches out his right hand and says,

 

"It's always a pleasure to meet such a pretty dame," his mouth quirked in a way that makes it clear that he _knows_ the words 'dame' isn't common anymore. But has decided to use it anyway. 

 

"The pleasure is all mine," Darcy says, putting a less than stellar performance of pretending she doesn't feel like passing out from fear or some equally shitty thing. 

 

The man gets another funny look on his face. Followed by looking like he's about to be sick. Sam is smiling and glances back, concerned, just in time to see as all emotion leaves James' face. All that's left is this empty slate that Darcy can read like a book. 

 

 _Fear. Anger. Confusion. Pain_. 

 

They don't flit across the face like with people. It just _is_ the face. The building blocks of the person Darcy is seeing. And it makes her feel sick to see it. Because _this_ is the Winter Soldier. This creature made of hurt. 

 

"You." The Soldier says. 

 

"Me." Darcy agrees, her mind racing. Sam looks absolutely panicked.

 

"Captain Rogers is on his way." JARVIS says. The only indicator that the Soldier heard is the way he tilts his head as JARVIS speaks. 

 

"You've been stalking me for a couple of months now. What've you found?" Darcy asks, sounding far more calm than she feels. She hopes she's sending out Black Widow vibes. Cool, calm, collected, and most importantly, capable. 

 

"Designation: Darcy Lewis. Threat Level: unclear. Most information necessary. Family: Adopted by Sherlock Holmes and John Watson at a young age. Exact date unclear. Fostered by Marlene Lewis. Biological mother: Jeanne Kingston. 

 

“Biological father: Tony Stark. 

 

“Target shows signs of genius and is presently on 4 Hydra watch lists and 1 cancelled kill order. Also one of the humans targeted by Hydra's failed attack on dates: 27, 4, 2014 and 31, 7 , 2014. 

Darcy Lewis has not been cleared as mission assist."

 

Darcy and Sam stared for a moment.

 

"Well.. that is a lot more information than I expected. Hold on, did you say _Tony Stark_ is my _Father_?!" 

 

"Confirmed."

 

Darcy looked at the assassin's face. "So, why do you keep following me? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm _very_ glad you haven't killed me or whatever. But." Darcy's not quite sure how to ask how she could be at all important. She didn't even know who Father was until just now so it's not like she could be blackmailed. And unless he was planning on taking action on the cancelled kill order... why?

 

"Bucky?" Captain America's careful voice comes from by the elevator. (And doesn't that just feel like deja vu.) 

 

"Asset investigating designation for goal: identify threat level; clear for designation: Sam Wilson mission assist; identify capability to mission assists designation: James Barnes; identify capability to mission assists designation: Captain Steve Rogers." 

 

Darcy raises an eyebrow and can see out of the corner of her eye that Sam's done the same. She's not sure why, but even when Sam is so rigid he's not even trying to step in. 

 

"Bucky?" Captain America says again.  (God that guy sounds like a broken record.) (Or maybe it's just that she now realises that she can't really hate the Winter Soldier because that is just _so much pain_. So all her anger and hurt has to go somewhere else.) (eh. Probably not.) 

 

The Winter Soldier turns to Captain America and says, "Designation: Captain Steve Rogers. Repeat." Darcy doesn't get it but it makes Captain Dickhead smile. 

 

"Let's go home." Captain smiles geniality and gestures past Darcy down the hallway. 

 

"... The Asset -  I - am having a conversation with designation: Darcy Lewis." 

 

"Eh?" The Captain seems surprised. 

 

"It's okay Captain. The Winter Soldier here is using close range surveillance to identify my threat level. I don't mind as long as it stops him from breaking into my apartment and going through my stuff." Darcy says smiling. It's fun, almost, to find it so easy to read the Soldier. His face is blank but he's smiling. 

 

Darcy, in general, finds humans hard. She'll never have Papa's skill of identifying with normal people. She can't tell how they're feeling just by understanding what they've gone through. Papa said it was because she processed things differently. Like Dad. Darcy will never be as good with _normal_ people as Papa.

 

She was never as good as Dad at using deduction, she just couldn't see as much as fast. He would see the scuff of mud on your heel as soon as he walked in. For Darcy, she had to _look_ for it. Sure, she's gotten better with practice, but she'll never be as good. 

 

But between Dad and Papa, Darcy can read the Winter Soldier like a picture book. And that's... comforting. (Yes that's the word...) (Even with all that pain, it's nice to be able to understand, to some extent, what the machine-man feels and thinks.) 

 

Suddenly, as Darcy is glancing away from Captain America and the Winter Soldier’s body _slumps_. It’s instantaneous and like a puppet getting it’s strings cut.

 

“Bucky!” (Jesus, was that the only thing the man said?)

 

“Stevie?” Barnes’s voice croaks, he sounds miserable, “Did I hurt anyone?”

 

“No. No you didn’t Buck. Everyone’s okay.”

 

“James. You are in the hallway outside of the apartment and you were meeting Darcy Lewis.” Sam says asserting his, _everything is okay_ , power on the group.

 

“What happened when it came out?”

 

“… talked. That’s it. The two of you talked.” Sam says, turning to Darcy with an almost accusatory look. (Almost, but not quite. Darcy would guess that he’s fed up he’s spent all this time trying to talk to the Soldier and he comes out for Darcy having only met her in person once before.)

 

“Hey-ah Soldier. Hmm. That doesn’t work so well when the Soldier isn’t you. Damn. I like calling people Soldier.” Darcy babbles, sighing dramatically. And it’s true. Calling people Soldier sounds classy. Sorta. Who know’s. The point is, it’s fun. “Here’s the thing James, we gotta talk for a bit while Winter up there,” Darcy taps her own head, “listens so he can get a grip on how dangerous I am. Meanwhile, _I’m_ going to panic over the fact that I was just informed Anthony Edward Fucking Stark is my Daddy-o. So yeah.” Barnes looks a little shell shocked. It’s probably because of the situation and not Darcy, but she can’t help giving herself a pat on the back for distracting everyone from the whole, had-an-assassin-right-there-and-he-didn’t-kill-me thing.

 

“You picked a real firecracker.” Barnes says at last. The pressure in the room takes a nose dive and Darcy’s surprised because she’d forgotten how tense it all was. Bucky walks in a facade of casual over to one of the door and opens it up. “I think you’d best come in to talk instead of doing it in the hallway.”  

 

Darcy hurts to just watch how tired he is, but it has to be done. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if part of the reason he hasn’t been getting enough rest is because the Winter Soldier keeps forcing Barnes’ body t stalk Darcy so hopefully this helps. Darcy enters the room and can feel as Captain America and Sam follow behind her. And for the first time in what feels like ages, Darcy is feeling hopeful for the future. 

 

(Besides the whole, Iron Man is your father, _thing_.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Also the whole thing about the Star Wars original trilogy - it's based on my own life trying to watch Star Wars. 
> 
> How do you feel about there being a difference between James Barnes and The Winter Solider?


End file.
